Rickyk brought up a good topic in another thread about if Sumlin will be better or worse than RR was. I don’t think we can fairly judge after three games, or even one year. RR was 3-9 in 2016, but one year doesn’t a career make. I think all we really have is the available evidence of the hires to help judge.
RR’s D1 HC record coming in was 75-48 (.610). After the six years with us, that dropped to 118-83 (.587). Sumlin was 86-43 (.667) coming in. So that nod goes to Sumlin.
Within the Big 10, RR was 6-18 (.333). In the Pac 12, he was 24-30 (.444). Sumlin within the SEC was 25-23 (.521). Big nod to Sumlin.
RR’s offense was explosive for Michigan and us. Obviously, his achille’s heal was a poor defense at Michigan, which continued with us. But why? Some reasons presented have been the scheme that he didn’t care about defense. I don’t think either of those are true. I think RR made some big staffing mistakes.
- At Michigan when he didn’t get his guy Casteel, he forced DC Shaffer to run the 3-3-5, which he had never run before. The results were disastrous. Michigan went from 4th in scoring D in the Big 10 to 10th in RR’s first year and dropped to 11th (last) in RR’s last two years.
- With us coming in, RR got his guy Casteel, but with a big price. With the package deal of Casteel/Kirelawich, Joe was let go. Also, Tony Gibson, RR’s best recruiter, wasn’t promoted. So he got promoted by WVU and doesn’t quite well there as DC. I’d submit that Casteel/Kirelawich over Gibson/Salave’a was a big mistake. Joe’s DL became formidable at WSU (up to 3rd in the P12 in rushing D before he left), and we lost Joe’s recruiting and Poly pipeline in addition to Gibson’s recruiting.
- The Yates hire is not looking so good right now, even with 4-2-5 multiple, today’s standard defense, even in the Big 10 and SEC.
That brings us to Sumlin and his staffing. Much has been said about Mazzone, but I like bbunny’s take that it also includes his kid, an extra receivers’ coach. And Sumlin hired Yates too. I understand that it was late in game to fill the staff, but I’d think a better plan would be to:
- Take Mazzone’s $850,000 plus his kid’s salary and spend it on an upgraded DC
- Go with 5 defensive coaches instead 4 in the new 9-man staff since Sumlin comes from the offensive side of the ball
- Hire an LB coach instead of second receivers’ coach
- Hire a younger up-and-comer OC to help balance the books
On balance because of the records above, I’ll go with Sumlin as the better hire long term, IF, and a big IF, Sumlin doesn’t make staffing mistakes like RR did (or correct them in short order).
RR’s D1 HC record coming in was 75-48 (.610). After the six years with us, that dropped to 118-83 (.587). Sumlin was 86-43 (.667) coming in. So that nod goes to Sumlin.
Within the Big 10, RR was 6-18 (.333). In the Pac 12, he was 24-30 (.444). Sumlin within the SEC was 25-23 (.521). Big nod to Sumlin.
RR’s offense was explosive for Michigan and us. Obviously, his achille’s heal was a poor defense at Michigan, which continued with us. But why? Some reasons presented have been the scheme that he didn’t care about defense. I don’t think either of those are true. I think RR made some big staffing mistakes.
- At Michigan when he didn’t get his guy Casteel, he forced DC Shaffer to run the 3-3-5, which he had never run before. The results were disastrous. Michigan went from 4th in scoring D in the Big 10 to 10th in RR’s first year and dropped to 11th (last) in RR’s last two years.
- With us coming in, RR got his guy Casteel, but with a big price. With the package deal of Casteel/Kirelawich, Joe was let go. Also, Tony Gibson, RR’s best recruiter, wasn’t promoted. So he got promoted by WVU and doesn’t quite well there as DC. I’d submit that Casteel/Kirelawich over Gibson/Salave’a was a big mistake. Joe’s DL became formidable at WSU (up to 3rd in the P12 in rushing D before he left), and we lost Joe’s recruiting and Poly pipeline in addition to Gibson’s recruiting.
- The Yates hire is not looking so good right now, even with 4-2-5 multiple, today’s standard defense, even in the Big 10 and SEC.
That brings us to Sumlin and his staffing. Much has been said about Mazzone, but I like bbunny’s take that it also includes his kid, an extra receivers’ coach. And Sumlin hired Yates too. I understand that it was late in game to fill the staff, but I’d think a better plan would be to:
- Take Mazzone’s $850,000 plus his kid’s salary and spend it on an upgraded DC
- Go with 5 defensive coaches instead 4 in the new 9-man staff since Sumlin comes from the offensive side of the ball
- Hire an LB coach instead of second receivers’ coach
- Hire a younger up-and-comer OC to help balance the books
On balance because of the records above, I’ll go with Sumlin as the better hire long term, IF, and a big IF, Sumlin doesn’t make staffing mistakes like RR did (or correct them in short order).
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